Mother
by Lady Phaedra
Summary: A couple finds a hurt young lady by the road, begging them to save her son. ONESHOT [Main Pairing: Finland & Sweden accompanied by minor but mentioned side pairings.]


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Not much of a romance fic, but the main pairing is Finland & Sweden (bless their hearts). There are a few slight mentions of other pairings. You'll just have to find out which ones, won't you?  
>Also I was inspired by this one urban language - also I won't tell you which one so as to not give it away.<p>

**DISCLAIMER:** I'm writing a fanfic, obviously I own Hetalia.

Just in case you don't get sarcasm. Yeah. I was being sarcastic.

Don't sue.

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><p>It was late September, autumn was coming, and the sky was grey and the air was cold, signaling the approaching winter. There was a lone silver car driving down the long empty road. The couple inside the car was enjoying the comfortable silence as they drove.<p>

The driver was a tall blonde Swede named Berwald Oxenstierna with a permanent brooding expression. He always looked like he was sullen and even those who knew him well couldn't always see through his intimidating air. He briefly glanced at his "wife", a flicker of fondness passing his blue eyes.

His "wife" was a rather short blonde Finn man with a warm and childish face. His name was Tino Oxenstierna – he had taken on his husband's surname.

They had just visited Lukas Bondevik and his half-brother, Emil Steilsson and Lukas's boyfriend, Matthias Densen. The couple had moved into their new apartment in Des Moines. The other three Nordics – their group name in college – had came to help the couple move in.

They had left their farm early in the morning to get there before noon but neither Berwald nor Tino minded. They no longer saw the other Nordics face to face as often as they used to and all of them had their own lives now, which meant they had less time to all meet up together. So whatever chances they had, they were precious.

Tino had his cheek pressed against the window as they drove, his brown eyes running along the side of the road. He didn't mind how cold his cheek was getting from the prolonged contact. He was too busy daydreaming.

Tino was thinking about their friends. He was extremely happy that they had been able to hang out with their friends that day– all members of the group seemed to have went their separate ways after college. Matthias was a personal trainer and Lukas owned a bakery in Des Moines. Emil was still studying in Iowa University, working to get his Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science. Meanwhile Berwald and Tino had moved to a farm in the rural lands of Iowa, where they raised several types of livestock. Tino also was the best veterinarian in the area, caring for livestock of other farmers as well as their own.

"You think Matthew's alright?" Tino suddenly spoke up, pulling his cheek away from the window and turning to face Berwald. Matthew was the farmhand they hired. Matthew was a quiet, kind and upstanding young man, however he wasn't very strong and was too much like Tino when it came to manual labor for his own good.

"We've only been gone for a day but I'm concerned, you know he doesn't…" He trailed off, eyebrows furrowing as he followed Berwald's gaze as he realized that his husband's attention was fixated on something on the road.

In the distance a young woman had ran out on the road, looking panicked and desperate. As the car slowed down and got closer, her facial features became discernible. She had dark honey blonde hair held back in a messy bun, she was quite lovely but there was several cuts and scrapes on her face and she looked disheveled.

As much as Tino hated not being able to help others, he couldn't help but feel wary. "Be careful," he warned Berwald, his hand reaching out to hold his husband's. He was tensed as Berwald lowered the window and the young lady hurried, a limp in her step, over to the window.

"Please help me," she begged, a light French accent to her voice. "My husband, Arthur was driving and we crashed in a ditch this morning. No other cars have passed by all day, please! My husband is dead but I think my son is still alive. I can't get him out. Please help me! He's only a baby, he's not even one!" She was wringing her hands together in an imploring manner, her violet gaze moving between Tino and Berwald.

Berwald swallowed, glancing to Tino before he finally spoke. "Ja. I will go look for your son. You stay with Tino." He added, to Tino in a more quiet voice, "Keep an eye on her. Be careful."

Opening the car door, Berwald stepped out of his car and Tino followed suit. "Which way is that ditch?"

"Over there!" she pointed up towards further on the right side of the road. "Merci beaucoup!" she had slipped into French. "Thank you very much," she corrected herself in English. She seemed to be relaxing somewhat, looking more hopeful now.

Rubbing her shoulder comfortingly, Tino and the young woman had stood together to watch as the tall Swede jogged off.

"Come sit in the car, we have blankets in the backseat," Tino spoke to her in a soothing tone after Berwald had disappeared over the edge. The short blond man opened the door to the back seat. "What is your name?"

…

Berwald's face was stoic as he jogged down the side of the gravelly brown-grey road until he finally came upon the ditch that was undeniably the correct one. A red car had crashed into the side of the ditch. The front of the car was completely totaled but the backseat was relatively unharmed.

The Swedish man first tried opening the rear car door, but to his chagrin it remained firmly locked. Peering through the window, he could see a distressed-looking baby boy. The blond-haired child had noticed him and was looking at him through watery green eyes.

His resolve strengthening, Berwald gazed around at his surroundings, trying to find anything that could help him. He tried the other door, which didn't budge either. The only thing he could think of was smashing the window open but he was worried that the offending glass shards would hurt the baby. However Berwald could think of no other way at the moment. Time was a factor too, it was getting dark soon and that child would freeze at night.

Looking around the car, he noticed a large rock lying by the rear wheels. Picking it up, the tall man carefully tapped it against the window, tentatively at first and then striking the window harder and harder until he made a crack. It was slow work but the alternative was smashing the window open with one blow and showering the baby with glass shards.

With a quiet shatter, the window was broken open. Berwald gingerly reached into the car window, mindful of the remaining glass pieces, he felt for the car handle, hoping he would be able to unlock the door that way.

Grunting in frustration, he realized that it was child-safety-locked. It was quite ridiculous since the little boy couldn't have been older than a year and was immensely unlikely he would be able to reach so far yet. His parents might have been overprotective.

No longer caring about the broken glass shards still attached to the window, he reached through the window. The tall Swede was wincing slightly as the remaining glass came in contact with his body, although it wasn't as bad as it could have been with his thick wool blue coat.

The young boy had been silent the entire time but finally squealed hoarsely. His voice must have gone hoarse after crying for hours. But aside from the initial squeal of surprise he didn't seem very scared of Berwald, just curious.

Berwald was a bit taken aback but he unbuckled the blond child's seatbelt and gently picked him up and then cradled him in his arms as he pulled him out through the window with great care.

He was gazing at the baby closely. The child had darker blonde hair, bright blue eyes, thick eyebrows and a thin gash running along the side of his cheek, however he didn't seem as bothered by the injury. Most children were afraid of Berwald, hell, most adults were too, so the boy's lack of fear was a novelty to the spectacled Swede.

His blue gaze moving back to the front of the car, Berwald laid the baby's face against his shoulder, not wanting him to see what Berwald was about to see as he approached the front of the car. Berwald didn't like gore or violence particularly, but like the urge to press a bruise, his curiosity was getting the best of him.

It was absolute silence in the front seat, but Berwald could see the two deathly still bodies. The one in the driver seat was a blonde man, his face was pressed against the wheel but his blonde hair was stained with blood.

Berwald didn't bother to look closer at the second body; he had already lost his nerve. The tall Swede pivoted on his heel and left quickly.

…

The young Frenchwoman had been craning her neck in the direction that Berwald had disappeared in, and it took her a few moments to answer Tino.

"Thank you," she spoke quietly, clutching his arm. "My name is Marie Kirkland." After answering, she had resumed watching for Berwald's return anxiously.

Hoping to distract her, Tino kept asking questions. When he got nervous he tended to ramble and his instinct was to fill the awkward or tensed silence with words. "What happened exactly? I mean, if you don't mind answering."

She turned back, regarding him through curious violet eyes. Perhaps as he was curious to hear her story, she wanted to be able to tell someone it. "Arthur – my husband has an estranged brother who lives in the town nearby. The two haven't spoken once ever since his ran away from their home. I had grown up with Arthur and I had occasionally spoken to his little brother, but even _I _didn't know much more than anyone else what had caused Alfred to run away. But after Peter was born, Arthur started opening up more to me emotionally and I convinced him that he should try to make amends with his brother."

She seemed heartbroken as she continued in her story, "We left yesterday and drove here. He hadn't been so sure about reconciling with his brother but once we got started, it was the only thing on Arthur's mind. Even so he was constantly praising and ranting about Alfred during the whole ride, Peter was cranky and had started crying when he woke up. I accidentally spilled the coffee on Arthur's maps and papers and that was when Arthur swerved off the road. We slid down the ditch and crashed at the bottom. He was dead – but not right away, he must have died just after impact but I couldn't have done anything to save him. Or anyone, but I had to save our son. I knew I couldn't do it on my own so I ran up to the main road to look for help. I didn't think anyone would find us, I had started to lose hope."

Suddenly Marie pushed her blankets off. "I have to go."

Taken aback, Tino rose with her. "What? No, Marie, Berwald will find him. Stay here, Peter will be okay."

But she didn't listen, only shaking her head. She had given Tino a sad look before she streaked off, disappearing over the sloping side of the road. She was surprisingly fast despite her leg injury.

Feeling very frustrated and confused, Tino ran after her, forgetting to close the door in his haste. "Wait! Marie! You're too hurt! Be careful!" Slipping down the slope, he almost collided with Berwald, who was holding the baby.

"What's wrong?" Berwald demanded immediately, his grip on Peter tightening. He looked around, his face darkening as if he was expecting for some sort of beast to appear.

"Marie – that lady, she ran off," answered Tino, his face grimacing in concern. "Didn't you see her?"

"No, I just got back," replied Berwald, looking perplexed and tired. "We should go back to the car. Do you have your phone? Call the police. We'll wait in the car. The sun's almost down." The roads weren't always safe at night.

Shooting another fleeting look around the grey and dull area, Tino's shoulders slumped. "Okay." He pulled out his cellphone and was dialing the numbers as they walked up the slope together, hand in hand.

…

Ludwig and Feliciano had shown up thirty minutes later – they were Sheriff and Sheriff's Deputy respectively. Ludwig was questioning Berwald and Tino while Feliciano had taken Peter to the paramedics that had arrived.

"You said you had met the child's mother before she ran off? Describe her," Ludwig instructed, holding out a pen and a notepad, his blue eyes expectant and his face grim. Ludwig was used to things like this – the long and isolated road in his county had proved to be dangerous, even fatal, more than once.

"She had light brown hair and violet eyes," described Tino. "She was hurt – her face had some cuts and I think she had a leg injury? She had a French accent too." He glanced to Berwald for backup and his husband nodded, only confirming what he had said.

"They're pulling the car out right now," Ludwig informed them as he jotted down the information. "This is quite a case. In advance, I should inform you that you two might be called down to the police station more than once before we close the case. It might take a while – the car crash, the orphaned baby and missing woman – this is a very critical case. You two are our only known witnesses."

"We understand." Berwald nodded quietly.

"You can go home now – I'll call you when we have more information. Have a good night, ja?" The burly German man inclined his head politely to them.

Berwald had turned to leave but Tino suddenly spoke up. "What about the baby? What's going to happen to him? His father's dead but his mother's alive, missing, but alive."

Ludwig grimaced, "He's going to stay in a hospital. That's all I can say right now."

…

The next morning, the Finnish man and Swede were both eating breakfast quietly together at the table. At this time on a Monday, they were usually both already at work – collecting the eggs, feeding the animals and milking the cows. However the events of last night had affected both of them.

Matthew, the farm hand had left the house in quite a rush that morning. He didn't even stop to eat breakfast but at least he took the bagel Tino had given him before he left. Apparently his boyfriend, Alfred was upset about something and Matthew went to comfort him. Unfortunately it was something too personal for Matthew to share, but neither Tino nor Berwald badgered him – Tino, out of understanding and Berwald, simply because it wasn't in his nature.

Tino was warming his hands by wrapping it around his cup of coffee, his gaze absentmindedly moving between the cup and the window, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, his husband was reading the paper. It almost felt like an ordinary day but neither could stop thinking about what had happened the night before.

Suddenly the phone rang, surprising both and instantly grabbing both of their attention. Tino was the one to pick up the phone however as Berwald watched him with great scrutiny. "Hello? Oxenstierna residence – Tino speaking."

"Tino – hello, it's Feliciano Vargas." The Italian seemed to be lacking his usual energetic air. "Something's come up, you and Berwald should both come to the police station right now. Please hurry."  
>"Oh right –" Tino blinked. Feliciano had already hung up on him.<p>

He couldn't help but feel uneasy. Still clutching his phone, he turned slowly, meeting Berwald's blue eyes.

To anyone else Berwald looked completely unconcerned but Tino knew his husband well and he could see Berwald's stiff posture and the anxiety in his beautiful blue eyes, his eyes were asking: _What did they want? _

"They want us to come to the police station."

…

Feliciano had been waiting at the entrance of the police station when their car pulled in the parking lot. The Italian had been waving frantically for them to hurry, only furthering increasing the couple's anxiety.

Without a word, Berwald and Tino followed the Sheriff's Deputy into the station. He led them to the door connecting to a garage area. Inside, there was the red car from the ditch. They were both surprised to see that Alfred was there and he seemed to be holding back tears, as Matthew was comforting him with soft murmured words and hugs. What did Alfred have to do with this?

Ludwig immediately strode over to them, his forehead scrunched up and his blue eyes narrowed. "We had the car towed in and we examined it. It contained two bodies, and we identified both bodies. The first was Arthur Kirkland; he was the one in the driver's seat. He had died minutes after the initial impact. The second body was Marie Kirkland – his wife. She had died instantly."

Tino was gaping openly. "But that's impossible! She stopped us by the road. We spoke to her! I held her hand!" The Finnish man was unsteady on his feet and leaned against Berwald for support.

"My wife's right," confirmed Berwald. For once Tino didn't protest being referred to as a wife. "What you're saying is impossible."  
>"Nein. What is impossible is that you two are claiming to have been led to the car crash by a dead woman," replied Ludwig, his voice steely neutral. Ludwig was a logical man and right now Tino and Berwald both seemed very suspicious.<p>

"We're not lying!" Tino cried out, overwhelmed by the situation. "We really did see her! I don't know what exactly happened but we _saw _her."

Feliciano stepped in, the Sheriff's Deputy had always been kind and had gotten along with Tino well, but even he seemed doubtful. "Maybe, like in the stories, she was a ghost and she was trying to lead you to her son," he suggested.

"That's ridiculous," snapped Ludwig. "Ghosts aren't real." He tried to be a rational man, open-minded too but it was hardly like he could put ghosts in his police report.

"It's true!" cried out Tino. "She told us that her name was Marie Kirkland, that her son was named Peter and her husband was Arthur. She pointed us to the accident! She even told us that she and her husband had came here to make amends with her estranged brother-in-law!" Tino hadn't realized up until this point that the other occupants of the room – Alfred and Matthew had been watching them since his initial outburst.

Suddenly Alfred had appeared, grabbing Tino's shoulder. "Is that true?" he demanded. "Arthur had been coming to see me?" He ignored Ludwig's annoyed grunt, his blue eyes fixed on Tino's brown eyes.

Tino hadn't realized the two were brothers but he felt a deep sadness for both Alfred and Arthur. "Yes. Yes, it's true."

Alfred let out a choked sound and his boyfriend immediately came to his side. It had seemed like Alfred had missed Arthur just as much as his brother had missed him.

All eyes then moved onto Ludwig, who seemed agitated and at a loss at where to do. "This is a serious matter," he finally said. His blue eyes moved from Tino's and Berwald's to Feliciano's prompting and urging eyes and then back to them. "You two are the only suspects at the moment after that ghost claim. But… I think that if that part was to be omitted, there would be no further confusion and this can be ruled as an accident." He seemed resigned.

"Thank you," breathed Tino. He couldn't believe their sudden change in luck. Everything was now so chaotic since yesterday's events.

"If you don't mind," Berwald suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone. "Could we see the bodies?" The Swedish man didn't speak unless he had to so he clearly thought seeing the bodies were important. Perhaps it was because he still couldn't believe that the desperate mother they had met was really a ghost since they had no other explanations.

Tino could hardly believe it himself after all.

"Ja. They're in the morgue. Feliciano – will you escort them?"

…

Alfred was standing over Arthur's body, with Matthew gently rubbing his boyfriend's shoulder. It seemed that he had finally stopped caring and was now crying openly.

Meanwhile Berwald and Tino were holding hands as they stood over the body of Marie Kirkland. Her eyes were closed and her skin deathly pale. All her cuts and scrapes were the same, she appeared exactly the same as when they had saw her, except that she had the death pallor and there was no mistaking that she was dead.

Feliciano was standing outside the door with the coroner, a tall and imposing Russian man who seemed too cheerful despite all the death that surrounded them.

"Don't take too long, da?" he had told them, smiling unflinchingly in the face of pain and suffering. "They don't like to be bothered." He had giggled.

Even Feliciano, the Sheriff's Deputy seemed terrified of him, although that wasn't saying much. Really, it was quite a wonder that Feliciano was where he was.

"I can't believe any of this," Tino confessed, his voice a whisper. He held Berwald's hand tightly; as if he was worried his husband would become a supernatural apiration just as Marie had been. "It's just too much."

He couldn't help but remember Lukas in that moment; their friend was heavily interested in the supernatural. Lukas would have been thrilled to experience something like this, but Tino only shivered, a chill crawling up his spine. He just wanted to forget about all of this. _Except… there's just one thing, _he thought to himself.

However, Berwald surprised him by being the one to suggest the idea he had been thinking of. His husband seemed hesitant as he brought up the idea. "I know you don't want to deal with anything else like this, but I think something should be done about Peter."

Tino looked up at the taller man, correctly guessing what he was getting at, "Are you saying you think we should adopt him?" His brown gaze was sad as it drifted back to Marie's corpse but he seemed relatively hopeful. "I think it's a good idea. He'd just be sent to an orphanage or a string of foster homes, he wouldn't have parents there. We won't be able to replace his biological parents but we can try to take care of him for them."

Berwald nodded, his face remaining stoic but there was a thoughtful gleam in his blue eyes as he glanced up at the ceiling lights. "Ja – we'll do something."

…

Tino was gently balancing Peter on the white pony. Perhaps Peter was already getting on his way to be heavily spoiled, they had brought the pony after Peter had expressed interest in riding horses after meeting that funny-talking pony breeder who had came from Poland.

"Sealand!" he giggled, his chubby hand brushing down the pony's hair. Apparently that was his pony's name. It was a strange name for a pony and Tino suspected that Peter had picked up the strange name after hearing Tino and Berwald talk about the new self-proclaimed country that was really just an old British sea fort.

"Isn't Sealand pretty?" Tino cooed anyways, beaming at their son. At first Tino hadn't been sure he would ever feel like a true father to Peter. He had thought of Arthur and Marie almost every day and couldn't help but wonder if Peter would have been happy with his biological parents. But over the years, his love for Peter had grown and Tino knew that simply loving their son and having his love in return was good enough.

Suddenly Tino spotted Berwald striding towards them, leading Alfred and Matthew, Lukas and Matthias, and Emil. They were all carrying gifts and smiling and laughing.

"You gave Peter his gift already?" Berwald seemed fondly exasperated. "We were supposed to film that."

"You guys got him a pony?" Matthias spoke up laughing. He whistled, "He's going to be a spoiled brat if you guys start getting him a pony each year. Hey – what do you think about adopting a second son? I'm already potty-trained."

Tino protested, chuckling, "He found it on his own! We were playing hide and seek and he somehow unlocked the barn and found him. And for your information – that pony has a name, it's Sealand." He grinned, "Matthias, that's impressive and all but wouldn't Lukas miss you?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about bae," smirked Matthias, looping an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders.

"Don't call me that," Lukas looked annoyed, but he didn't pull away. "Besides if you want to act like a baby, then wish granted, you're already one."

"Cool bro," commented Alfred lightly, grinning cheerily. After his brother's death, he had passed up the chance to gain custody of Peter, feeling that he wasn't responsible enough and that Tino and Berwald could do a better job, however he proved to be an attentive uncle and visited Peter almost everyday.

"Sealand!" Peter protested, trying to become the center of attention again. He managed to garner a laugh or chuckle from everyone present.

His hand tightening around Berwald, Tino leaned close to Peter. "Happy fourth birthday, Peter," Tino whispered in his son's ear. "We love you."

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><p>So you're still here. Guess that means this wasn't too terrible.<br>That or you hated it so much that you just skipped the rest of the fic and decided to write an angry review.  
>Anyhow - this was my first story. I'd be grateful if you would leave a review - be as honest as you'd like, I enjoy feedback, but obviously don't flame. That's never cool, bro.<p> 


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